Defense Date

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

David Chester

Abstract

Decades of research concerns intimate partner aggression (IPA). While important to understand and prevent, investigations of IPA largely ignore another vital social relationship: close friendships. To investigate aggression between close friends – inter-friend aggression (IFA) – functional neuroimaging analyses enable to assessment of neural activity and mental representations of aggression in different social relationships. As such, 98 participants completed the well-validated Taylor Aggression Paradigm modified for a magnetic resonance environment against their current romantic partner, a close friend, and a stranger. Univariate analyses assessed the differences in the degree of neural activity and the role of Narcissism and negative urgency in neural activation. Subsequent multivariate pattern analyses assessed the differences in the pattern of neural activity during the different aggression conditions. Counter to the pre-registered predictions, results suggest that the neural activity during IPA, IFA, and general aggression are not distinct. The results have large implications for neural and behavioral investigations of aggression and suggest the importance of rigorous research regarding friendships.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

5-8-2024

Available for download on Thursday, May 08, 2025

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